Brad Parker the man!

[Snake]

Anyone suggesting that Walker is not a walk up start (pardon the pun) when he is ready, is on some serious crack. The guy is probably the second best centre in the NRL after Will Chambers.

 

[Snake]

Both of our centres were giants in defence. And both ran straight and hard in attack. They sure showed up their big name opponents.

This is what happens when you have a good coach. Players that are less fancy than their opponents start to outplay them. It's exactly what happened during the Hasler era. All of the sudden players like Matai go from unknown rookies plucked from obscurity, to household names in the NRL because of the way they approach the game. It's not always about signing a marquee player, it's about getting the most from talented unknowns who eventually make a name for themselves in the NRL.

 

[nightster]

Anyone suggesting that Walker is not a walk up start (pardon the pun) when he is ready, is on some serious crack. The guy is probably the second best centre in the NRL after Will Chambers.

Will who?

 

[Snake]

I've watched some of the tries and Brad Parker was poorly positioned on a number of occasions. His positioning exposed DCE on a number of occasions. Whole hearted kid but I cannot buy into the idea that he had no part to play in 3-4 tries being scored down his edge yesterday.

 

[EagleFlys]

After yesterday, I have serious doubts that he was taught how to pass a football.

 

[The Who]

Parker is a terrific defender.

 

[wombatgc]

I'm not sold on him yet. He's had some good touches, but I need to see more.

 

[maxta]

Decent....always have time for a Manly junior but 90% of centres would have scored the try he butchered, his defence seems solid which is a Massive plus.

 

[SeaEagleRock8]

90% of centres would have scored the try he butchered,

Yes, a centre would draw and pass. Parker seems like a good young player but I'm not sure what his best position is.

 

[Midnight Rambler]

Solid fundamentals, but way too small & way too slow for the NRL.

 

[nightster]

small? 194cm and 102Kg

 

[Ron E. Gibbs]

You guys are being a little hard on him. He saw the try line, pinned his ears back and the ball was knocked loose by a really good cover tackle. It's not like he makes a habit of blowing tries. He's scored plenty in the lower grades and on the wing in the NRL.

 

[Lyonstomenzies]

I still think he is quality. Yes he should have passed but in a game like that I guess he just wanted to get a meat pie.

Hopefully he will learn from it and get a kick up the backside from Trent.

He is still a big hard running back with great defence that will make a great player in years to come. He’s still young so he’s gonna make those mistakes.

 

[Woodsie]

Two things ..

1) Any centre taking the ball at full pace 3m from the line with a "doable" gap in front of him, that didn't back himself and go for it ... would be a useless sack of Shiite that should never play football again. Should have passed the ball ... are you people serious!

2) He might look like a toothbrush well beyond it's use by date ... but he can play football ... and he can set up his winger like he did about 2347 times in the 20's.

3) He is still only 20 and the past 2 years (the most important development years) have been interrupted by injuries.

4) He may never be as good as a rep player, but he will certainly be good enough to play FG for many years ... probably as a jack of all trades ...

Let's support the kid ... he's a good'un.

 

[lsz]

To be fair he does seem to be cut a fair bit of slack compared to Kelly.

I am not sure on him- for me his bad read contributed to one of the tries we let in...however he is just a kid so he needs some time (ideally in one position which is the difficulty )

 

[Andrew..]

I was talking to a mate when the footie was on and I seem to recall that Brad Parker came from Collaroy Plateau...can anyone confirn this?

 

[nightster]

the 20-year-old local junior from the Christian Brothers club grew up cheering the Sea Eagles from the Brookie hill hoping one day to emulate the feats of his heroes like Jamie Lyon. (from a DT article)

 

[globaleagle]

2) He might look like a toothbrush well beyond it's use by date ... but he can play football ... and he can set up his winger like he did about 2347 times in the 20's.

 

[globaleagle]

I'm a fan. I reckon he'll be good. Not everyone needs to be loud af (ala walkz - of who I am also a fan). Not actually sure he could've made that pass to Uate (looked like there was a player in the way) but as @Woodsie says... saw it and went for it.

 

[maxta]

You guys are being a little hard on him. He saw the try line, pinned his ears back and the ball was knocked loose by a really good cover tackle. It's not like he makes a habit of blowing tries. He's scored plenty in the lower grades and on the wing in the NRL.

There’s a time to pin the ears back and a time with an unmarked winger, to pass the ball and score untouched.
If it was the difference between winning and losing, ppl would be far less forgiving.